I was pretty horrified when I added it up, and had the same thought -- that I need to go through my stuff and see what the deal is! I was thinking that I was pretty sure that my load on my prior two trips had been in the 30's -- but for those trips I may have weighed only the panniers (to make sure I had the load distributed evenly), thus excluding my sleeping bag.

I can't really pinpoint any obvious problem. I did bring a pair of medium-weight hiking boots this time, first time I've ever done that -- but that should have been pretty much offset by swapping out my old HUGE HEAVY lantern for a tiny, powerful model. All of my stuff is of the "backpacking" class (and some of it even qualifies as ultralight.) One extra indulgence this time was my Alite Monarch Butterfly chair. I could have done without it, but it sure was nice. And it weighs only 18 oz. I used everything I brought with me except for a few pieces of clothing (amounting to at most a pound), some long matches and a few small "firestarter" sticks, and two Mountain House single-serving freeze-dried meals.

My sleeping bag could be lighter. Packed in the compression sack, it weighed 5.6 pounds. It's a 15 degree bag (but on the other hand, it's a short "small woman's" model, so less material than normal.) But I tend to "sleep cold" when I'm outdoors (at first, at least), and I was "just-right" comfortable this weekend with night-time temps of 48-53. I would have been cold with less bag.

My tent, too, could be smaller and thus lighter. But it's a 3-person REI Quarterdome UL (an older model, they don't sell it anymore) -- not exactly a heavy WalMart tent by any means. I had already looked into this, actually, and the weight difference between my tent and the equivalent new 2-person model isn't huge; no more than 2 pounds, as I recall. And I'm just not willing to go with one of those coffin-like 1-person models. (And even those don't shave all that much off the 2-person versions.) So I guess I'm just willling to put up with the weight of my tent for the comfort factor. Another person can fit comfortably, and if I'm alone, it's positively palatial. Most of the time, that doesn't matter at all, but when I'm stuck in there on a rainy day, it makes things *so* much more pleasant.

Hmmm, what else? I did bring a paperback. (I cannot be without something to read. ) I also brought a small, light, cloth chess/checkers game, and a tiny version of "Pass the Pigs." (Possibly the world's dumbest game, but Dave and I got some giggles out of it. )